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Wendy L. Stone, director and Susan & Richard Fade Endowed Chair at the University of Washington Autism Center in Seattle, will discuss “From Early Detection to Early Intervention: Bridging the Gap in Autism Services” during the next UC Davis MIND Institute Distinguished Lecturer Series presentation.

UC Davis MIND Institute

The lecture will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 9, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the MIND Institute auditorium, 2825 50th St., Sacramento. It is free and open to the public and no reservations are required.

Stone, professor of psychology at the University of Washington, focuses on both early identification and early intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders. Her research involves the characterization of early-emerging behavioral features of autism, with the dual goals of understanding the development of the disorder and designing targeted interventions to mitigate the expression of symptoms.

Stone's research with young children has led to the development of the Screening Tool for Autism in Two-Year-Olds (STAT), which now is being adapted for use at younger ages.

Stone is the author of many papers on the early identification, assessment, and follow-up of young children with autism. She is co-editor of "Social and Communication Development in Autism Spectrum Disorders" and is the author of a book for parents, "Does My Child Have Autism?" She serves on the editorial boards of the journals Autism Research and Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Future Distinguished Lecturer Series speakers include:

Catherine Lord, director of the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain at Weill Cornell MedicalCollege in New York City, who will discuss “Longitudinal Studies of Autism Spectrum Disorder” on Feb. 13;

Paul Patterson, the Anne P. and Benjamin F. Biaggini Professor of Biological Sciences at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, who will address “Gut-Brain-Immune Connections: Modeling an Environmental Risk Factor for Autism” on March 13;

Bradley L. Schlaggar of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, discussing “Development of the Brain’s Functional Networks” on April 10

Additional series presentations will take place on May 8 and June 12.

The MIND Institute Resource Center, specializing in information and resources relating to neurodevelopmental disorders and related conditions, is open one hour before and 30 minutes after each presentation.

The UC Davis MIND Institute in Sacramento, Calif., was founded in 1998 as a unique interdisciplinary research center where families, community leaders, researchers, clinicians and volunteers work together toward a common goal: researching causes, treatments and eventual preventions and cures for neurodevelopmental disorders. The institute has major research efforts in autism, fragile X syndrome, chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Down syndrome. More information about the institute and its Distinguished Lecturer Series, including previous presentations in this series, is available on the Web at mindinstitute.ucdavis.edu.